Maysville Town Manager Schumata Brown, center, holds a Waterford eagle that was presented to him during a ceremony Thursday in the Old House Chamber in Raleigh. From left are, Brian Etheridge, President, Leadership N.C.; Brown and Shawan Gabriel, President and CEO, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Inc. Submitted photo

RALEIGH — In the well of the Old House Chamber of North Carolina’s historic capitol building, Maysville Town Manager Schumata Brown was awarded the Stanley Frank Class Award by his fellow Leadership North Carolina (LNC) participants last week.

Brown was a member of the XXVI Class LNC and the first resident from Jones County to attend and graduate from the course.

With the 56 members who graduated Thursday, there are now 1,213 leaders from all across N.C. who can proudly state they are alumni of LNC.

The award is presented annually in honor of the late Stanley Frank, chair of the LNC founding committee, who gave his time, talents and resources to make our state a better place to live and to work.

The award is presented to a participant of the current LNC class whose demonstrated leadership has made a significant improvement to the quality of life, economic well-being and/or sense of community in our state.  

“I was excited and humbled at the same time when I heard my name called,” Brown said.  “It means a lot to receive the Stanley Frank award. It’s easy to get caught asking yourself are you a great leader or are you making a difference when you hear negative talk, but this validates that I’m making a difference.”

Brown said the award means the world to him. In addition to receiving the prestigious award, a flag was flown over the state capitol building in his honor.

“To be selected out of 55 class members, some with the law degrees and PHDs  and to have a flag flown in my honor is the most honorable thing that has happened to me,” Brown said.

In reflecting about the course Brown said he “learned a lot that I did know about NC and the relationships that I formed with other classmates will be huge for my career and leadership moving forward.”

Brown said the course enhanced his leadership skills and the networking that he captured during the class will benefit my community.

“Now I have experts in all different professions that I can call on that had a passion to help rural communities,” he said.

The application period for LNC Class XXVII (2019-20) is open May 20-June 28. Applications will be reviewed by a selection committee in July and invitations to participate in Class XXVII will be extended by early August.

For more information about Leadership NC, visit https://leadershipnc.org.

By Dan Ryan / Special to NeuseNews.com